Op-ed by Élodie Monchicourt and Charlie Trouillebout
Published on 24 September 2026 in Stratégies
Read the op-ed on Stratégies (in French)
Generative AI already plays a part in nearly one in three online purchases in France. And here is the good news: it can be influenced…
Léna, Squeezie, Tibo: France’s top creators have new competitors, or rather new peers, called ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. And these have climbed one step higher on the audience podium, so much so that they can be called “giga-influencers”.
No influencer or content creator has ever gathered so many followers. ChatGPT, which took two months to reach 100 million users at launch, passed one billion monthly users in June 2026, faster than any app before it1. The Gemini app has also just passed the billion mark2. By comparison, the world’s biggest influencers count their audiences in hundreds of millions of followers and only reach a fraction of them with each post. An AI answers individually, on demand, at the exact moment of the purchase decision. It shows up at the right time, in the right place.
And these audiences no longer just ask questions to get informed, learn or think things through: they ask what to buy. Product comparison, long contested between search engines, comparison sites and influencers, is moving to a conversational interface that gives a single, synthesised answer that is rarely challenged.
The voices whispering in AI’s ear
In France, 31% of online shoppers now use generative AI in their purchase journey, a figure that rises to 49% among 15 to 24-year-olds3, and 48% of online shoppers say it influences their decisions4. Brands that don’t appear in its answers become invisible to a whole generation of buyers. In short, AI has become strategic for brands and their commercial success.
But here is the good news: our influencers and traditional opinion leaders have nothing to worry about… they are the ones whispering in AI’s ear. Earned media (journalism, academic research, institutional sources, third-party content) accounts for 84% of AI citations; paid and advertising content, 0.3%; journalism alone makes up 27% of cited sources5.
And the press is not the only voice AI listens to. The models also feed on what influencers and internet users publish on the platforms: in early 2026, Reddit was among the domains most cited in AI answers, ahead of YouTube and LinkedIn6. A well-argued thread, a well-built YouTube video, an expert’s LinkedIn post: all of these are content that AI reads, cites and recommends. For influencers and brands alike, this is a new playing field.
The conclusion is clear: you can’t buy your place in an AI answer. You earn it, through editorial coverage and third-party content that the models deem reliable. The lever has always existed: it is called PR and influence. It simply has to be designed for an additional reader, one that never sleeps. This shift redefines the craft more than it threatens it: choosing the media and platforms AI actually reads, renewing coverage continuously, and measuring brands’ presence in AI answers like a media share of voice.
[1] Sensor Tower data reported by Reuters, 2 June 2026
[2] Official Google announcement, August 2026
[3] Odoxa study for Fevad, February 2026
[4] iAdvize x Ifop study, January 2026
[5] Muck Rack, “What Is AI Reading?”, 3rd edition, May 2026
[6] Peec AI, “Top domains cited by AI search”, analysis of 30 million sources, March 2026
